This past week on Monday Night RAW, Ted DiBiase, Jr., defeated Mark Henry to become one of the top five challengers for the WWE Championship. He alongside four other challengers will battle WWE Champion Sheamus for the WWE Title inside an Elimination Chamber match at the aptly titled Elimination Chamber pay per view on February 21. This will be DiBiase’s highest profile match to date and should be DiBiase’s start down the road to singles stardom.
The young DiBiase was born into wrestling royalty as he is the son of the legendary “Million $ Man” Ted DiBiase and the grandson of “Iron” Mike DiBiase. His grandmother also wrestled many years ago under the name Helen Hild. In addition his older brother Mike DiBiase and younger brother Brett DiBiase have also joined the family business.
Ted and older brother Mike first received training from Chris Youngblood and then received further knowledge from the legendary Harley Race at his Wrestling Academy. Ted also had his first matches for Race’s World League Wrestling in 2006, and thanks to Race’s connections he was able to work for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, where he battled international superstars such as KENTA.
In July 2007 he signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling. He formed a brief alliance with The Hart family as a precursor to The Hart Dynasty now seen on the SmackDown brand. DiBiase also picked up the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship for a brief time in late 2007 before injury caused him to relinquish the Title.
He debuted on the RAW brand on May 26, 2008 and immediately challenged World Tag Team Champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes to a Title match. Playing up the connection to his “Million Dollar” father, DiBiase was able to buy his way into a Tag Title match in his first official WWE match at Night of Champions ’08. Entering the match without a partner, Rhodes turned on Holly and allowed DiBiase to pin Hardcore to win the Tag Team Championships. So Rhodes entered the match as a World Tag Team Champion with Hardcore Holly and left the match as a World Tag Team Champion with Ted DiBiase.
The duo lost the Tag belts to the super team of John Cena and Batista briefly in August but quickly regained them a week later in the build up to SummerSlam ’08. As summer turned to fall, Rhodes and DiBiase formed a loose association with Randy Orton and later added Manu to form a as a multi-generational stable. On the October 27 edition of RAW, DiBiase and Rhodes lost their Tag Championships to CM Punk and Kofi Kingston. The next week on RAW DiBiase and Orton got into an altercation, which led to Orton punting DiBiase in the head, taking off TV for the time being.
The absence was to allow DiBiase time off to film the straight-to-DVD film The Marine 2, which arrived in stores in December 2009.
DiBiase returned to television on the January 12 RAW and helped Orton and Rhodes attack Manu and Sim Snuka, essentially dividing the stable into two section. Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes christened themselves Legacy, a trio of multi-generational stars expecting special treatment based on their family heritage. DiBiase then became essentially a henchman for Orton during the first half of 2009, helping him win Royal Rumble 2009 and battling the likes of Triple H, The McMahons, John Cena and anyone that stood in Orton’s way.
As the summer turned to fall, DiBiase and Rhodes started to gain a little traction on their own when they began a two-on-two rivalry with DeGeneration X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H.) Rhodes and DiBiase may have lost two out three of the teams’ big battles (with losses at both SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell, and a victory at Breaking Point) they still came out as bigger stars in the end.
Now as it dawns into a new year, things look to be on the outs within Legacy. After Rhodes’ interference backfired during Orton’s WWE Championship challenge to Sheamus at Royal Rumble ‘10, Orton attacked both DiBiase and Rhodes. The stable looks to be heading to a fracture but the question still lingers on who will end up on what side. DiBiase will surely encounter Orton inside the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match and things between the three could become clearer between the group as the weeks go on. Early speculation points to a DiBiase-Orton singles match at WrestleMania XXVI . While nothing is set in stone yet it is apparent that the young DiBiase is in store for something bigger in the near future.
Billed Height – 6’3
Billed Weight – 235 lbs.
Billed From – West Palm Beach, Florida
Nicknames – The Fortunate Son; Priceless
Signature Move – Dream Street; Million Dollar Dream
Major Titles Held – World Tag Team Championship (2); FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship
Debuted – 2006
For more info:
Ted DiBiase’s official WWE profile
Ted DiBiase’s Wikipedia entry
Ted DiBiase on Online World of Wrestling
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